Rin: God's Favorite Daughter

Outside the fairytale

Kagura paced back and forth in front of the large imposing doors that led to her father’s study. She had fled to the fields near the barracks to meet the one person that made her feel true freedom in that gilded cage she lived in. She was standing near one of the many cliffs of the mountain fortress feeling the rush of the eastern wind blow past her loose neck length hair when she heard footsteps behind her.
She smiled slightly to herself and whispered “Your late Bankotsu. I wasn’t going to wait here any longer for you.” At that she turned around and gasped with fright at the person that stood in front of her. All the blood rushed to her feet and her face became as pale as the white feather clips in her hair. She heard the pulsing of her own heart in her ears as she stared at the person in front of her. Then she heard the shrill high pitch laugh of the one woman she hated the most in her life.
“Relax Kagura. I won’t tell your father about Bankotsu. Such trivial gossip is hardily worth my time,” the woman said as she brushed her long silver hair off her shoulder.
“But scheming your way onto my father’s lap is Tsubaki,” Kagura said narrowing her red ruby eyes at her stepmother. Tsubaki grew serious at her stepdaughter’s snide comment and replied, “Now Kagura, if you really want me to have a talk with your father about your torrid love affair, it can be arranged. If not than I suggest you behave. Besides I doubt that there isn’t much that your father doesn’t know. But I am hardly in the mood to fight with you today. Hakudoshi is becoming a pain with all his crying. Anyway, I am here because your father asked me to come get you because he has something of great importance he wishes to discuss with you. I suggest you aren’t late coming from your insipid rendevous with that very delicious General Bankotsu.” Her shrill laughing was all that Kagura heard when she turned towards the direction of the fortress once more. Here she was now in front of the gates of hell hoping that her father would not be angry with her. His temper was rather dangerous when it came to dealing out punishment to his men and even to his own daughter. She heard the door slowly crack open and saw that it was one of her father’s many servants.
The old man said in a low voice, “ Naraku-sama will now see you, Kagura- hime,” and ushered her into the dark room. If it wasn’t for the blazing fire in the fireplace the room would have been devoid of any light. The stone floor held no warmth beneath her feet and made the room feel like a damp cave. In the far corner she could make out the baboon pelt that her father insisted on parading about in. She heard a low cough and looked towards the fireplace where the long reclining sofa was situated. Her father’s long dark raven hair spilled over the edge and sides of the sofa. She had seen many women swoon over the beauty of just his hair but what was truly attractive her mother Yura would say was his nonchalant attitude. It was true that he was as dangerous as any predator but he took it in strides and that is what made him most terrifying in her mind.
“You called for me chichi-ue,” she said bowing low under his scarlet gaze. Those damnable eyes of his, she had inherited them, she could not deny that she was his daughter. When she was fifteen she realized how much alike they were and tired to cut out her eyes and shave her head bald but that did not go over well with him and he caught her and gave her a severe beating because she was defiling something that was his.
“Well Kagura it is time that you start doing things for your kingdom. You are going on a lovely trip to the west.”
“Demo… I do not wish to leave chichi-ue,” she whispered.
She heard her father scoff as she continued to gaze down at the floor.
“Why the change of heart? This would not have anything to with my general Bankotsu. Up until a few months ago you would do nothing but complain about not having any freedom, like that damnable bitch that you had as a mother.”
She quickly straightened her back and locked his gaze with her own shocked eyes.
“Don’t act so surprised at that Kagura. You should know me better than anyone in this castle. You should know that nothing escapes me. If he wasn’t such a good commander and inspired such loyalty with the troops I would have killed him a long time ago for tampering with something that belongs to me. Anyway, daughter of mine I suggest you discontinue your little trist so you can have time to woo the Lord of the Western Lands. War is such a costly affair. Why make the effort with war when the same results can be achieved with making love? I am sure you will have no problem with that, after all you are my daughter.”
“No I do not want to go…” her weak attempt of defiance was cut off with an echoing slap across her face. She blinked a couple of times before the pain and the heat set in. She lifted her hand to her face and slowly pressed her flaming cheek. She let her lower lip slightly fall and tremble while tears began to well up in the edges of her eyes. Her father’s hand suddenly sprang forth and grabbed her wrist and applied pressure.
“Now Kagura that isn’t how you answer your dear father is it,” he said forcing her to her knees.
“No chichi-ue. I beg your forgiveness. I will do as you say,” she said meekly. He released her and walked back to his previous seat on the sofa and sat down.
“Now you will leave in a week. That should give you ample time to get your affairs in order. Oh and Kagura do not think of leaving the fortress.” He snapped his fingers and two large men clad in armor appeared from behind a hidden door. “These are your personal guards. They are here to insure your safety.” He slowly sank back down onto the sofa and slowly closed his eyes. A single tear slowly slid down her cheek and she turned around in a huff and left the room with her nose upturned and the two males in her tow.

X


Ike…Thunk… Bullseye…Kazane smiled as she hit her mark once again with her bow and arrow. She looked from the corner of her eye and spotted the young prince Ikano looking in her direction with his eyes glazed over.
“Is there something you find interesting about me my young prince,” she said loudly, effectively startling him out of his reverie. She smiled evilly and turned her head back to the target. She heard his boots softly crunch the grass next to her. She then turned her head as she heard the shifting of his silken robe and saw that he was bowing.
“Forgive me for staring my lady. It is just that you remind me very much of the Kiryurin hime. In the short time that I knew her, she became very close to my heart,” he said in a most formal tone.
“Oh my, staring at me is hardly worth the trouble of apologizing, my dear prince. It does the dead good that they are in the thoughts of the living. And besides I like when people stare at me,” she let out a short giggle and watched that his features soften and smiled along with her. Their quiet bliss was interrupted when groups of solider began to file into the training grounds. She watched the soldiers’ every move intently. They passed in groups of four, bowing out of respect as they made their way around her and their prince.
“Well my lady I suggest we hurry inside to be on time for dinner since you made it out of the kindness of your heart,” came Ikano’s soft voice as they stared at the men practicing their stances.
She silently turned towards him and followed him to the main palace.
“Tell my dear who is it you intend on conquering with such a vast army,” her voice came from behind him.
“It is a secret my lady. But for you I will tell. We are allies to the lord of the eastern lands. A year ago the lord of the northern lands attacked his borderlands and then denied involvement in the whole ordeal. Well our ally has asked my father’s help in securing his borderlands,” she smiled and nodded at his explanation. He breathed easier that her curiosity was assuaged.

She had listened to his breath slow and a look of relief wash over his features. He had just lied to her and he believed that she was nothing but a foolish religious icon that knew nothing of truth beyond their master’s. He was mistaken. Border patrol did not require such a large quantity of men and also did not require a route from the western coast through northern mountains when his ally was the eastern lord Naraku, that insufferable half spider demon that knew nothing but bloodlust and mayhem. At the age of fifteen he had already become the eastern lands scourge under his given name Onigumo. By the time he was twenty he had succeeded in dissolving the loose ties that held the eastern lands together under his father. When the taiyoukai, Dokugumo, had been lost in battle, being a bastard of his father did not help his claim to the throne, so instead he opted in feigning loyalty to his brother and became his shogun. His brother had failed his people and in return the beloved general was granted lordship over the eastern lands. His first act was to subjugate everyone who opposed one ruler over the eastern lands and they were put to the ground. She had seen it through the looking glass, Shinkyou, her sister’s window to the past present and the forbidden future. But she never imagined that his thirst for power and conquest would lead to an ill-fated battle. Her thoughts again returned to the present as she followed behind the young prince. Unlike his father, Ikano showed true emotional distress when it came to any mention of the Kiryurin hime. He seemed genuinely in love with the girl. No matter how much her sister sat indifferently to her gossip, Kazane knew her sister paid extra attention to any juicy morsel that came from the family. She smiled to herself. Tonight would be the night she would report of the last month to her sister. She had arranged to cook for the family to solidify her privacy during the report.

X

The door slowly creaked opened and allowed Rin’s body to pass through into Kagome’s waiting room. She looked around the dimly lit room and spied a door in the rear, cracked open. She hurried into the room and saw her sitting in the rocking chair cooing and softly rocking back and forth.
“Hello, Rin,” Kagome said after she finished humming.
“How did you know I was here,” she asked in a hushed tone.
“Living in a house with demons, one always needs to know what is around her. Besides I heard your footsteps in the waiting room,” she said turning her head upwards and smirked at Rin. Kagome then rose out of the chair and walked over to the basket that was near her bed and placed the bundle inside. Kagome bent over and began adjusting the infant’s blanket around his small body. Four months had already passed and he was growing so fast, faster then she and her ladies in waiting could make clothes.
“You know Rin, it has been almost a month since I saw you last by yourself,” she heard Rin giggle slightly. Kagome straightened her back and turned around with a smile on her face and a gleam in her eye.
“Well, then Rin-chan you must tell me everything,” she said linking her arms with the girl and practically dragging her out of the room into the sitting area of her apartments.

Kagome’s sitting area was one full of bright orange silks that hung from the ceiling and dark blues and a host of colors taken from the rainbow. The tatame mats also had every color in each square with soft pillows that were arranged in small heaps around a low dark cherry wood table. It had been rumored that Kagome was not from Japan but from the mainland. Kagome let her body fall into the heap like a doll and began stretching her aching limbs. Rin straightened her kimono under her and sat in the middle of the heap on the other side of the table.
“So Rin tell me. What do you want to drink tonight,” she said lifting her head up from the pillow while attempting to sit up.
“I don’t know Kagome-sama….”
Kagome’s hand shot up and she said, “Stop right there! Call me Kagome. I prefer it. It took me a long time to get used to all the formality but I still prefer to be called Kagome. And as for the drinks, I could go for some sake, ne?” She then gripped her tiny fingers around the bell at the edge of the table and rang it. One of her youkai servants appeared at the sliding door and waited for her mistress’s orders.
“Yoko, bring Rin and I a bottle of sake from the kitchens and have Hiara stay with Kaze. Tell her to inform me if anything is wrong with him,” she said turning her head back towards Rin.
“Hai, Kagome-sama,” the servant said as she backed out of the room with her head bowed. A long silence ensued between them and Rin looked about the room at the multi-colored silks that hung from the ceilings.
“Kagome sa…,” she caught herself and began anew, “Kagome, they say that you are not from Japan, they say that you are from the mainland. But to me you look very much Japanese,” she said gazing at the gold embroidery on the pillows.
‘They would say something like that. Actually I am very much Japanese, I just did not grow up here. But that is a long story.”
“Oh please tell me, I love stories.”
“Ok. Let me ask you do you know about the Shikon no Tama,” she waited for Rin to nod her head and continued her story. “I am sure that you know of its inception and how it can grant any wish. Personally I wish that the thing had never been created. It has brought nothing but ruin to my family, starting with my grandmother Midoriko.” At that statement Rin’s eyebrows bunched up in confusion.
“Umm….but isn’t the Shikon no tama, supposed to have been created 700 years ago,” she said interrupting Kagome.
“Well yes actually, it was,” she giggled slightly as she saw Rin grow more confused by her answer, “You see I am far older than I look. I stopped counting after the first century. You see what they did not include in the story was that when my grandmother bounded her soul inside the jewel, she bounded us all to its fate. My grandmother’s brother and his children who established the taijya village, my mother and aunt Kaede, myself and my brother Souta and now my son as well; we are all victims of the fate of the jewel. One thing the legend also does not mention is the fact that it prolongs the possessor’s life span. Well after my grandmother died in the creation of this jewel, the monks of her temple cloistered it and allowed people to come and touch the jewel as if it was Buddha who had placed it in their hands. The people began spreading rumors that it granted any wish and so greedy humans and demons came looking for the jewel. Wars ensued over possession of the jewel and finally my mother with help from her uncle and other family members took the jewel and left to the mainland. That was over 600 years ago. There she traveled with her only companion, my father, to visit countries and people that you would have never known existed in this world. In the end, my mother was involved in a war and mortally wounded. It prolongs life but does not make one immortal. She told me that it was time for the jewel to go back home to Japan. Long story short I am here. Seems all too fantastic, ne?”
“Yes…I had no idea the story outside of the legend,” Rin said after a few seconds.
“Yes, being outside of a legend is rather disappointing,” Kagome said with a sigh. As if on cue her servant slid the door open and placed the tray with two porcelain cups and a rather large ceramic bottle of sake. Yoko bowed her head and immediately retreated from the room. Kagome reached over and poured a glass for Rin and then one for herself.

When she knew that her servant was far from the room she said, “I hate how everyone is so formal. That is why I love Inuyasha so much. He does not hold his tongue and is quite amusing sometimes. Unlike that brother of his that hardly let’s any emotion seep through that mask unless…….he is with you.”
She saw Rin’s face blush and turn her head and cough slightly out of embarrassment.
“Surely I do not know of what you speak of. He seems exactly the same as when I arrived here.”
“Sure he does to those who do not know him. I told you before that I have noticed the way he looks at you. His glare softens and his breathing becomes erratic. You two look so adorable taking those afternoon walks in the garden. I am surprised that you have so much energy the way you bounce from flower bush to flower bush. I am getting sidetrack,” she said shaking her head. She slowly took a sip of her drink and let the heat spread from her tongue down to her throat. “Are you attracted to him,” she said not missing a beat while drinking her sake. She saw Rin quickly cough up her drink and set down the cup.
“Oh come on Rin. I know he may have his dislike of mortals but he has made no more exceptions than his father and Inuyasha. It runs in the blood, you might say. For someone like him to truly enjoy the company of a mortal well there has to be something more than just physical attraction on his part, ne,” she said arching her eyebrow.
A long silence ensued and after several fast shots of sake she answered, “Umm….I don’t know Kagome. I do not know what to think. I feel like…. I feel like I have known him forever but I have only been here a little more than half a year, if that sounds sane,” she said looking down into the small cup and sloshing its continents around inside.
“Love is never sane,” Kagome said firmly and taking another sip of her drink. This had to be the fifth cup she had already and her body was feeling very warm.
“Wha…What, this isn’t love,” Rin said gulping down the rest of her drink.
“Give it time. As far as I know he hasn’t been in love with anyone before and is far time he started,” Kagome said snatching the cup from Rin’s hands and pouring the liquid to the very rim of the cup. Rin accepted the cup with as much grace as she could muster after five cups of sake. They sat there exchanging stories. Rin telling her about her family, but it was mostly Kagome entertaining Rin about the many places she had been to in her long life. She told Rin of the beautiful palaces of the mahrajas of India, the wonderful Buddhist temples in Cambodia, the many animals in the jungles that she described with vivid imagery. When they had started it was nearing dusk and by the end of four bottles of sake, it would be a few hours to dawn. Rin suddenly let out a yawn and said her goodnights to Kagome and excused herself to her room. If it was any other time she would have known her way to the other side of the castle but this was not any other time. Like a drunken man she stumbled her way towards her room, taking with her several armored statues and curtains.

When the first crash was heard, he quickly opened his eyes and scrunched his brow in agitation. Then he heard the curtains in the hall ripping like someone was pulling on them. From this distance he heard the small yelp and the strong smell of sake in the hall. He quickly rose from his bed and slipped his yukata and loosely tied it over his body. He stalked reluctantly towards the door to greet the person who had disturbed his sleep. Just as he reached the door, it opened and Rin came crashing into his chest and he reacted quickly and held her up with his arms. Rin let out a loud shriek but was extinguished by a strong-clawed hand over her mouth. He saw her dark eyelashes flutter in confusion but did not manage to drive the glossy, hazy fog that came with the large quantities of liquor that she had consumed the past couple of hours. He moved his hand when he was sure that she would not scream again. They stood in silence, a pair of serious golden eyes staring down at a pair of hazy chocolate ones. The curiosity had gotten the better of her hindered judgment and she reached up slightly and touched the jagged purple streak on his soft skin to her surprise. He moved his head away from her hand.
“Forgive me my lord, I…I..,” she stumbled over her words as the alcohol begun to really make its damage by forcing her into a comatose sleep right in his arms. He growled as she began to pass out and lifted her from the ground and carried her body to his bed. He resisted the urge to sigh and neatly put her body down on the soft mattress. She shifted and moaned something that his demonic hearing could not catch fast enough. Then she groaned again, “ Ses….ho..mar….,” his name. He smirked slightly, she was dreaming about him. He gently moved the stray hairs behind her ear. She was so beautiful, he had finally admitted to himself. She had brought something to him that he would not name. He sighed and made his way over to the other side. Tonight he would just sit and watch over her.

Wow ok I love this chapter very much too. I appreciate the support. You guys have the best energy ever. I love it. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I loved the chapter. I love the scene of Kagome and Rin drinking.
Dokugumo- poisonous spider
Shinkyou – Divine Mirror